Apparatus and method of forming an inverted, truncated pyramidal shape of stacked golf balls within a tray and forming on top an upright, pyramidal shape of stacked golf balls

ABSTRACT

A tray for stacking golf balls into a truncated, inverted pyramidal shape and upon which may be stacked on top a regular pyramidal stack of golf balls that self-supports to retain its shape. The tray includes a base, four diverging walls and a rim. The walls are between the rim and the base. The base has a plurality of curved rails that have convex surfaces within an inward facing side of the tray. The curved rails are separated from each other in succession by flattened regions. The rim has holes for securing rope handles. Golf balls may be poured into a hopper on the rim of the tray to stack the golf balls in the tray first in an inverted pyramid shape manner and then in a regular pyramid shape manner.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a tray for stacking golf balls, andmore particularly pertains to a tray for stacking golf balls in aninverted, truncated pyramidal fashion within confines of the tray andstacking further golf balls on top in an upright, pyramidal fashionbeyond the confines of the tray.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

It is generally desirable at golf practice areas, such as drivingranges, to provide golfers with large supplies of golf balls for useduring a practice session. In an effort to provide a tray for stackingand dispensing golf balls, which allows the balls to be stacked for easein dispensing by a golfer, the present inventor devised an invention inthe form of a tray pursuant to U.S. Pat. No. 6,648,138 B1, whosecontents are incorporated herein by reference, that provides for ease ofdispensing of all stacked balls and is portable by the average golfer orgolf facility employee. The tray is for stacking and dispensing golfballs that will not deteriorate or become damaged as the result ofrepeated forceful contact with golf balls with the tray. The presentinventor also devised U.S. Pat. No. D470,702 S directed to a golf ballstacking tray portion. Conventionally, golf balls are of uniform size.

Further, the present inventor is the inventor of U.S. Pat. No. 6,742,982B2, whose contents are incorporated herein by reference. That patentdescribes a hopper having two pyramidal shells, wherein each of the twopyramidal shells is truncated and has a respective open substantiallyrectangular rim defining a respective open base of a different dimensionthan that of the other. The two pyramidal shells are joined togetherwhere each is truncated so as to converge together and define a funnelopening between the shells.

One of the shells is configured to form a self-supporting stack ofuniformly-sized golf balls arranged in a plural number of layers atopeach other as a stacking tray closes the open base of this first shelland the golf balls are poured through the other, second, shell, to fillthe first shell. The second shell is configured to form a furtherself-supporting stack of golf balls arranged in a different pluralnumber of layers stop each other as a further stacking tray closes theopen base of this shell and the golf balls are poured through the firstshell to fill the second shell.

The golf ball stacking and dispensing apparatus may be able to provide aregular pyramidal stack of balls of as many as 204 in number. At a rateof three balls per minute, a full stack of balls using a stacking traythus will support a practice session of approximately 70 minutes.Additionally, the preferred maximum pyramidal stack of balls provided bythe apparatus—eight balls in height—is sufficiently short so that anaverage golfer can dispense balls therefrom without discomfort or otherunease.

By contrast, repeated dropping of golf balls onto a stacking tray havingsharply angled interior edges, whether rectilinear or beveled orotherwise shaped, eventually will result in damage either to the edges,or to the balls, if the rails are not strong enough to withstandrepeated impact of the balls on them. As a consequence, the rails willbecome pitted and otherwise misshapen, and the base layer of golf ballswill not be sufficiently organized to support a pyramidal stack. Indeed,once the edges are sufficiently pitted, damaged or otherwise misshapen,a pyramidal stack will no longer be able to be supported by the stackingtray, once the hopper is removed.

In addition to damage to and eventual ruin of the sharply angledstacking tray for its intended purpose, repeated dropping of golf ballsonto the sharply angled edges of the rails eventually will result indamage to the balls, themselves. That is especially true where the edgedrails are made from sufficiently durable, impervious material, such asconcrete, to withstand repeated impact by dropped balls. In such case,the balls themselves, whose covers have been shown by common experienceto be subject to damage by contact with the edge of a golf club, will bedamaged and eventually rendered useless by repeated dropping onto therigid, sharply angled edges of the rails.

The rims of the open bases of the hopper may be of the same dimensionand each used with a tray of different dimension. Thus, with respect toa first pyramidal shell, one tray is arranged external for golf ballstacking so that the first pyramidal shell sits on the tray and thus iswithout confines of the first pyramidal shell when closing the open baseof the first pyramidal shell. With respect to the second pyramidalshell, the other tray is arranged internal for golf ball stacking so asto be within confines of the second pyramidal shell when closing theopen base of the second pyramidal shell.

If desired, the hopper may have just one pyramidal shell, with perhapsan opposite pyramidal shell for purposes of pouring in golf balls. Twodifferent sized trays may be used on the one pyramidal shell for formingtwo different size pyramid stacks of golf balls. The smaller of thetrays is inserted within the confines of the pyramidal shell so that itsunderside is coplanar with a rim of the open base of the pyramidalshell. The golf balls are poured through the truncated opening of thepyramidal shell to form the stack. After removing the hopper, the hoppermay then be placed to sit atop the larger tray, which closes the openbase but remains outside the confines of the hopper. Additional golfballs are poured through the truncated opening to form an additionalpyramidal stack of the additional golf balls.

With the inventions of U.S. Pat. No. 6,648,138 B1 and U.S. Pat. No.6,742,982 B2, a method is provided of forming different size pyramidalstacks of golf balls. According to this method, golf balls are pouredthrough a second pyramidal shell of a hopper to fill a first pyramidalshell having an open base that is closed by a stacking tray, therebyforming a self-supporting pyramidal stack of uniformly-sized golf ballsof a plural number of layers. The second and first pyramidal shells aretruncated and joined together at the truncations to form a funnelopening between the shells. After the pyramidal stack of balls isformed, the hopper is removed from the stacking tray, leaving theself-supporting pyramidal stack of balls alone on the stacking tray.Further golf balls are poured through the first pyramidal shell, whichhas a differently dimensioned open base that is closed by a furtherstacking tray, to form a further self-supporting pyramidal stack of golfballs of a further plural number of layers that is different that thefirst-mentioned plural number of layers, the stacking tray and thefurther stacking tray being of different dimensions. After the furtherstack is formed, the hopper is removed from the further stacking tray,leaving the further self-supporting pyramidal stack of golf balls aloneon the further stacking tray.

The present inventor also has patents directed to forming a pyramidstack of golf balls by inverting a pyramidal shaped stacking device.Those patents are U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,832 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,312.

Therefore, while pouring in golf balls into the hopper of U.S. Pat. No.6,742,982 B2 onto the tray of U.S. Pat. No. 6,648,138 B1 results in theupright stacking of golf balls, while pouring golf balls into thepyramidal stacking device of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,551,832 and 5,695,312results in an inverted pyramidal stack of golf balls, the presentinvention combines features of both stacking approaches in the form of anovel golf ball stacking tray and method of stacking.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The method of stacking golf balls in accordance with the invention formsa stack of golf balls resembling an inverted, truncated pyramid andforms on top a further stack of golf balls resembling an upright pyramidthat is self-supporting on top. A tray is used to support both stacks,although only the stack resembling the inverted, truncated pyramid iswithin confines of the tray. The tray has a base, diverging walls and arim. The diverging walls diverge from the base to the rim so that therim forms an outer periphery that is wider in dimension than thediverging walls. The base has recessed portions and non-recessedportions that together stably retain golf balls of a base layer of golfballs in position relative to each other. By adding rope handles securedto the rim, the tray may be carried with both golf balls stacks in astable manner to they do not topple over.

The recessed and non-recessed portions may define raised rails arrangedparallel to each with each rail having a convex surface or may defineinstead a plurality of individual sockets neighboring each other andarranged in linear relation to each other to form parallel lines ofsockets or may holes that individually retain golf balls. The recessedportions may be considered retention portions in the sense that the golfballs are to be retain over them and the neighboring structure of thebase may be considered non-retention regions. For instance, if anon-retention region is a rail having a convex curvature, the convexcurvature tends to urge the golf balls that land upon the rails to rolloff the convex curvature toward the recessed portions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is madeto the following description and accompanying drawings, while the scopeof the invention is set forth in the appended claims.

FIG. 1 shows a top isometric view of the golf ball stacking tray of thepresent invention with rope handles for carrying the tray;

FIGS. 2 and 3 show top and bottom views of the tray of FIG. 1,respectively, but without the rope handles;

FIG. 4 shows a side view of the tray of FIG. 1, but without the ropehandles, in position underneath a hopper of U.S. Pat. No. 6,742,982 B2;

FIG. 5 shows the tray of FIG. 1, without the rope handles, in which aregolf balls stacked in a pyramidal shape; and

FIG. 6 shows an isometric of a mold used in the manufacture of therectangular central region of the tray of FIG. 1 to form the convexlycurved rails.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Turning to FIGS. 1-5, the golf ball stacking tray 10 of the presentinvention comprises diverging sidewalls 12 that extend upwardly from abase 14. The base 14 has recessed and non-recessed portions such as aplurality of curved raised rails 16 (non-recessed portions) that areconvexly curved from the interior facing side of the tray 10 andconcavely curved from the exterior facing side of the tray 10 andarranged in a substantially parallel manner with respect to each other.

The curved rails 16 (non-recessed portions) are separated from eachother in succession by associated flattened regions 18 (recessedportions) between a pair opposite ones of the diverging sidewalls 12. Asan alternative to rails, individual socket recesses may be used witheach socket holding one golf ball and with the sockets arranged inlinear relation to each other. A further alternative would be to provideindividual holes for the golf balls to individually be set into the base14, in which case the base 14 might be sufficiently thick to accommodatethe balls being retained in the holes.

The tray 10 has a topside rim 20 that is substantially flat and extendsoutward from the diverging sidewalls 12. A pair of rope handles 22 eachextend from two respective corners of the topside rim 20 by passingthrough holes 24 in the corners and are tied into a knot 26 beneath theholes 24 so that the knot is wider than the holes 24. While the drawingsshow a four-sided truncated pyramid shape for the tray 10, a three-sidedtruncated pyramid shape instead may be used.

The width of each flattened region 18 is sufficient to permit a golfball to rest between neighboring ones of the rails 16. In addition, theupper facing surfaces of each of the rails 16 is convexly curved,thereby preventing the dropped balls from resting thereon and thusassuring that the dropped balls will rest over the flattened regionsbetween neighboring ones of the rails 16.

Each of the opposing sidewalls 12 that diverge upwardly is adjacent toneighboring ones of the rails 16 to permit the golf balls stack to widenin successively as the tray is filled upwardly to form an invertedpyramid shape to the rim 20. Above the rim, the golf balls may continueto stack by following the form of the hopper 30 of FIG. 4 so as to formthe pyramidal stack shape of FIG. 5.

That is, the hopper 30 is identical to that of U.S. Pat. No. 6,742,982B2. One pours golf balls into the mouth opening at the top of the hopper30 and the golf balls tumble into position, first along the rails of thetray 10 to form an inverted, truncated pyramidal shape within confinesof a space bounded by the base 14 and the diverging walls 12 and then toform within confines of the converging walls of the hopper 30 (thatconverge from the rim 20 of the tray 10) a further stack of golf ballsthat resemble an upright, regular pyramidal shape to sit atop the stackof golf balls forming the inverted, truncated pyramid. By removing thehopper 30, the golf balls remain stacked and revealed as shown in FIG.5.

As described, the golf ball stacking tray 10 of the present invention isable to support a truncated, inverted pyramid stack of golf balls and,on top of the inverted pyramid stack, an upright, regular, pyramid stack40 of golf balls that is self-supporting to retain its pyramidal shape.Although the stack of golf balls within the confines of the tray 10cannot be seen in FIG. 5 due to the opaqueness of the diverging walls12, one can envision that there are golf balls stacked within theconfines of the tray 10 on the basis of the regular pyramid stack 40that is shown stacked on top. The present inventor has found that thetray 10 may be dimensioned to hold 178 golf balls within confines of thetray 10 and that by adding golf balls stacked on top in the manner ofthe regular pyramid shape 40, a 315 golf ball pyramid may then bestacked on top. If desired other size inverted and regular stackedpyramids may be realized by changing the dimensions of the tray 10 andthe hopper 30 accordingly.

The stacking tray of the present invention may be made of any durable,lightweight substance, such as plastic or polymers, and may be formed bya conventional plastic molding technique that uses the mold 50 of FIG.6. For instance, Stacker, Inc. of Georgia uses such a conventionalplastic molding technique to manufacture trays and hoppers for stackinggolf balls.

The use of convex curvature on the rails 16 combined with the divergingsidewalls 12 further promotes the durability of the stacking tray 10, aswell as of the golf balls stacked thereon. Repeated dropping of golfballs onto the stacking tray 10 of the present invention (to form thebase layer of balls for the inverted pyramidal stack) will not result indamage either to the tray 10 itself, or to the balls.

As the stacking tray must be able to be used repeatedly to becost-effective, damage to the tray itself and/or to the balls stackedthereon severely compromises the useful life of any stacking tray havingsharply angled edges.

Although not shown, one can appreciate that the double stacks of golfballs of FIG. 5 (one stack is within confines of a space bounded by thebase and the diverging walls of the tray to resemble an inverted,truncated pyramidal shape while the other sits atop to resemble anupright, regular, pyramidal shape) may be stably carried by one holdingonto the rope handles of the tray of FIG. 1.

Stacker, Inc., of Duluth, Ga. manufactures pyramidal-shaped golf ballforms and trays from plastic by using a conventional thermoformingprocess and equipment to shape, heat and stretch plastic sheetsaccordingly, such as in accordance with the pyramid shapes shown in U.S.Pat. Nos. 5,695,312 and 5,551,832. Thermoforming is a manufacturingprocess where a plastic sheet is heated to a pliable formingtemperature, formed to a specific shape in a mold, and trimmed to createa usable product. The plastic sheet is heated in an oven to ahigh-enough temperature that permits it to be stretched into or onto amold, vacuumed to remove air, and cooled to a finished shape. theequipment may be a small tabletop or lab size machine used to heat smallcut sections of plastic sheet and stretch it over a mold and usingvacuum.

In accordance with the conventional thermoforming process, the tray ofFIGS. 1-5 are formed by first cutting plastic, which is purchasedcommercially in sheets, to the size of the mold. The cut plastic is thenput in a frame, heated, stretched over the mold, and a vacuum from aconventional thermoforming machine sucks the air out, pulling theplastic to conform the heated, stretched plastic to the shape of themold surface (such as the exterior). The plastic is then allowed to coolto form the desired finished shape, after which the cooled plasticfinished product is removed from the mold. In accordance with theinvention, the mold used is a truncated pyramid shape with formations onthe truncated part as shown in the mold 50 of FIG. 6.

Instead of using a thermoforming process, other types of processingplastic techniques may be used, such as injection molding, blow molding,or rotational molding. However, the mold used would look different thatthat of FIG. 6 to produce the same finished product. Further, such othertypes of processing plastic techniques require more extensive tooling,injection molding and some kind of rotary molding where the liquidplastic is put in the mold and the mold is spun so the centrifugal forceworks the plastic in to the desired shape.

While the invention has been described with respect to certain specificembodiments, it will be appreciated that many modifications and changesmay be made by those skilled in the art without departing from theinvention. It is intended, therefore, by the appended claims to coverall such modifications and changes as may fall within the true spiritand scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A golf ball stacking tray, comprising: a traypositioned so that a base of the tray is in a substantially horizontalposition, the base having retention portions and non-retention portions,the tray having a rim and having diverging walls that diverge from aperiphery of the base to the rim, the rim defining an outer peripherythat is wider in dimension than that of the diverging walls, theretention portions and the non-retention portions being configured andarranged to retain a base layer of uniformly-sized golf balls inposition with respect to each other over the retention portions andbetween neighboring ones of the non-retention portions, the tray beingformed to stably support, without tipping over, a stack ofuniformly-sized golf balls, inclusive of the layer of uniformly sizedgolf balls, that altogether resemble an inverted, truncated pyramidalshape.
 2. The golf ball stacking tray of claim 1, wherein the rim has aplurality of holes, further comprising: two handles that pass through arespective pair of the holes so that holding onto two of the handlestogether enables the tray to be carried in a stable manner with the traycontaining golf balls.
 3. The golf ball stacking tray of claim 2,wherein the two handles are each made of rope and are knotted beneaththe holes.
 4. The golf ball stacking tray of claim 1, wherein the basehas a plurality of rails spaced apart from each other by regions, eachof the rails having a convexly curved surface that rises to elevationshigher than that of the regions with the base in a substantiallyhorizontal orientation, the convexly curved surface of each of the railsbeing within an inward facing side of the truncated, inverted pyramidshape.
 5. In combination, the golf ball stacking tray of claim 1 and ahopper on the rim, the hopper having walls that extend in a convergingmanner away from the rim of the tray.
 6. In combination, the golf balltray of claim 1 and a stack of golf balls within confines of a spacebounded by the base and the diverging walls, the stack of golf ballsbeing stacked to resemble the inverted, truncated pyramidal shape withinconfines of the space, the base layer of the golf balls defining aplurality of rows of the golf balls in linear relationship with eachother for each of the rows.
 7. The combination of claim 6, furthercomprising: a further stack of golf balls that are stacked in aself-supporting manner to resemble an upright, pyramidal stack of golfballs, the further stack being atop the inverted, truncated pyramidalstack and supported in a stable manner by the inverted, truncatedpyramidal stack to extend beyond confines of the space bounded by thediverging walls and the base.
 8. The combination of claim 5, wherein thebase and the diverging walls bound a space, the stack of golf ballsbeing within confines of the space bounded by the base and the divergingwalls; and a further stack of golf balls that are stacked in aself-supporting manner to resemble an upright, pyramidal stack of golfballs, the further stack being atop the inverted, truncated pyramidalstack and supported in a stable manner by the inverted, truncatedpyramidal stack to extend beyond confines of the space bounded by thediverging walls and the base and being within confines of the hopper. 9.A method of stacking golf balls, comprising: positioning a tray so thata base of the tray is in a substantially horizontal position, the basehaving retention portions and non-retention portions, the tray having arim and having diverging walls that diverge from a periphery of the baseto the rim, the rim defining an outer periphery that is wider indimension than that of the diverging walls; retaining a base layer ofuniformly-sized golf balls in position with respect to each other overthe retention portions and between neighboring ones of the non-retentionportions; stably supporting, without tipping over, a stack of theuniformly-sized golf balls, inclusive of the base layer, to resemble aninverted, truncated pyramidal shape.
 10. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising: passing two handles through a respective pair of holes inthe rim so that holding onto two of the handles together enables thetray to be carried in a stable manner with the tray containing golfballs.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: knotting the twohandles beneath the holes, the two handles being made of rope.
 12. Themethod of claim 9, further comprising stacking golf balls withinconfines of a space bounded by the base and the diverging walls to formthe stack of the golf balls.
 13. The method of claim 9, wherein the basehas a plurality of rails spaced apart from each other by regions, eachof the rails having a convexly curved surface that rises to elevationshigher than that of the regions with the base in a substantiallyhorizontal orientation, the convexly curved surface of each of the railsbeing within an inward facing side of the truncated, inverted pyramidshape;
 14. The method of claim 9, further comprising; placing a hopperon the rim, the hopper having walls that extend in a converging manneraway from the rim of the tray; and pouring the golf balls into thehopper to stack the golf balls to resemble the inverted, truncatedpyramidal shape within confines of the space and to also resemble anupright, pyramidal shape atop the inverted, truncated pyramidal shapethat is supported in a stable manner by the inverted, truncatedpyramidal stack and extends beyond confines of the space to be withinconfines of the hopper and that is self-supporting to retain theupright, pyramidal shape.
 15. The method of claim 14, further comprisingremoving the hopper from the rim of the tray with the golf ballsremaining stacked to resemble the inverted, truncated pyramidal shapewithin the confines of the space and to resemble the upright, pyramidalshape beyond the confines of the space in a manner that remainsself-supporting to retain the upright, pyramidal shape.
 16. Incombination, a device that supports stacks of golf balls, comprising: atray having a base, a rim and diverging walls that diverge from the baseto the rim, the base having recessed portions and non-retentionportions; a bottom stack of golf balls that resemble an inverted,truncated pyramidal shape within confines of the tray, the bottom stackincluding a base layer of uniformly-sized golf balls retained inposition with respect to each other over the recessed portions andbetween neighboring ones of the non-retention portions; and a top stackof uniformly-sized golf balls atop the bottom stack, the top stack ofuniformly-sized golf balls resembling an upright pyramidal shape andself-supporting on the bottom stack.